Rengoku: Descent Into Hell
by max7238
Summary: The story of GRAM and how he came to be; why he has a self when other A.D.A.M.'s don't. (Complete...?)
1. Summary

Rengoku: Decent Into Hell  
>(Summary)<p>

A man and his girlfriend, both around twenty years of age, are walking through a crowded street in New York City. They are holding hands, obviously in love and enjoying the unusually warm day. At the same time a certain CEO is walking the streets as well. His company is not well known – yet – and so he can enjoy is anonymity for the time being. However, he is not obscure enough. A man, knowing of his plans, jumps out of a local restaurant with a stomach covered in explosives. His intent is only to kill one man and himself, and he dashes at the CEO. Our man, the man with his girlfriend, lets go of her hand and dives in front of the CEO, bear-hugging the bomber and tackling him to the sidewalk. The bomber is trapped underneath the man, and the impact on his hand causes him to trigger the bomb. The bottom half of both men is obliterated. Every bystander cries out and rushes to safety... Except the girlfriend and CEO who know the danger is passed... The CEO makes a phone call, and the man's life begins its decent into hell...

The man wakes in his hospital bed, not knowing why he is there or what happened. He tries to move and finds he can sit up with ease. He shakes his head, blinks twice, and suddenly remembers everything up to the explosion. He throws off the blanket... And sees the first legs of an A.D.A.M. unit. He is now the first ever android, and only one in what will become many, many more. He will learn about his new body. He will remember his girlfriend, and marry her in his new body. He will have faith in the company that gave him his life back. But he will learn how they plan to start a war with these machines. He will use the only advantage he has over the rest of the mass produced A.D.A.M.'s: his humanity. He will come to be known as GRAM, a machine with a self, and a sole survivor of the human race.

This is the story of The Tower Of Purgatory. This is the story of GRAM. This is Rengoku.


	2. Event 1

Rengoku: Decent Into Hell

Event 1: Selflessness

* * *

><p>"Yes, you heard me... I don't care if you have to flub the numbers, just make it happen!... Who needs volunteers, just sneak someone out of death row!... No, you listen to me; we need a successful human subject, or those AI cells are just a dream..."<p>

* * *

><p>An important looking man yelled into his phone walking down Wall Street in New York City. Tour groups wandered the streets on the warm summer day. No one paid any mind to the man, even as he furthered his plans for his company's rise to power. As the man walked, a former employee, a scientist, followed him. The man hung up his phone, shoving it into his pant's pocket and swearing quietly at the employee he had been arguing with. The scientist following him took this as his chance. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a detonator, and ran towards the businessman...<p>

At the same moment, a man and his fiance on a tour were walking passed the businessman. The man and his fiance, months away from their ceremony, would have to wait to see each other another day. As she felt his hand leave hers, the woman froze in shock as her future husband tackled the scientist. They hit the ground and the scientist accidentally queued the bombs strapped to his legs. They were home-made, and only intended to kill one man and the bomber. The woman shrieked into the deafening boom, instantly knowing what had just happened. But her husband could not hear her. His ears would never hear another sound...

* * *

><p>"Ugh..." groaned Xavier Alighieri. His eyes fluttered open, revealing the ceiling of some hospital room. He tensed his whole body in instinct, stretching as if from a midday nap. He sat up and swept his hands over his face, which felt wrong somehow. He looked at his hands, and nearly shouted in surprise. These were not his hands! He began inspecting his hands and arms, seeing the smooth streaked metal and not believing it was his own body. He ripped off the sheet covering the rest of him, revealing his smooth legs and feet. He was stunned, but he was never the type to sit around when he saw a problem. He tested moving every part of his body, even wiggling his ears. He blinked a few times, even testing the motion of his eyes. He swung his legs out of bed when he felt comfortable moving his body. He felt like he was in a dream, and prayed it did not turn into a nightmare. He found it hard to walk, being taller than he remembered, but he found himself quickly and headed for the door. He didn't worry about clothes; this body had nothing to hide like his old one did, which made him uneasy, but not scared. He opened the door to his room, was spotted by several orderlies, and was suddenly standing in a tempest of human bodies. They were all pushing him back into the room, some running away shouting out calling "the CEO." Xavier did as he was told and went back in the room, but no one would answer his questions. He sat on the bed, and the orderlies looked him over, but no one tried taking his blood pressure or his heartbeat. No one asked how he felt. Instead, they asked his name and age and other personal information. He remembered all of that, but he wanted to know how he had gotten in the hospital. The nurses started to leave him.<p>

* * *

><p>"Ma'am!" he shouted, putting a demanding note in his voice. One nurse stopped.<p>

"Uhh, yes...?" she said, looking at him almost with fear.

"Why am I here? What happened to me?" said Xavier, pleading for something to go on.

"You don't remember?" she said, genuinely surprised. "You saved Mr. Maro from a crazed former employee who tried to kill him. You jumped on a suicide bomber. You're a hero!"

If Xavier had skin, it would have flushed with goosebumps. His final moments rushed back to him and he jumped off the bed.

"Beatrice!" he yelled, remembering his fiance.

Orderlies rushed back into the room to calm him down and get him back on the bed.

"I'm not doing a single thing until someone brings my wife here!" he raged, incredible strength allowing him to resist everyone trying to restrain him. The struggle went on for a minute more until a voice rose over the commotion.

"That's quite enough, Mr. Alighieri!" said the voice of an older man.

Xavier's head snapped to the doorway where he saw the man he had saved. He stopped fighting, but didn't sit on the bed either, standing stiff and straight, as unmovable as a steel girder.

"We have called your fiance, and she will be here soon. For now, please have a seat so I can speak with you." Maro was short with Xavier, obviously irritated.

Xavier sat on the bed and the orderlies backed off. As the men and women filed out of the room, Xavier stared daggers at Maro, who pulled up a free chair and sat on the wall opposite the head of the bed.

* * *

><p>"Obviously you will have questions, so let me do my best to answer most of them in one go. Firstly, as you seem to remember, you saved me from some idiot I fired trying to throw away his life and mine. Second, I am the CEO of a growing company that does research into advanced technology. For a while, we've been working on very small machines that function like cells; a collective intelligence. We encountered the problem of not having a willing human subject who would give up their body for science. However, as that very issue became an impassible wall, here you are destroying your body to save me. Naturally, out of the kindness of my heart, I had you, or what was left of you, hauled away from the crater in the street to be made into what you are now. Your head was intact, and we managed to salvage most of your memories and other data from your brain. I hope you understand the kind of trouble we went through to save you. Thanks to you, I am alive, my company can move forward with our work, and in the end you even gained from what you did. Just think, how you feel no pain, you will never be sick, and you should even be able to control the shape of your body at will, though I imagine that will take practice. I -"<p>

Xavier cut him off, unable to bear any more.

"You think this is a blessing, what you've done to me? Look at me! No pain? Try no feeling at all! Do you have any idea what you've stolen from me! Yes, I threw my life away, and I knew what I was doing, but that should have been it! Beatrice would have found someone else! And you can rot for all I care, you and your mad science! Let me guess, like this I will never die, right? With this body, I can survive almost anything, can't I! What does that mean for my wife? Now I get to watch her grow old while I stay the same hunk of metal! And that's if she even stays with me! You've given me nothing but existence! This is no life! How could you!"

Xavier stopped roaring his anger just long enough to see if Maro would respond.

"Look, there's nothing that can be done about it now. The only way to kill you, or for you to die is to destroy your entire body almost at the same time. If some of your body survives long enough, you will rebuild yourself automatically or at will. And you'll keep your memories and personality as long as one full kilogram of cells stays intact. Any less than that and you will start losing memories. If just a few cells are left, you can't rebuild, and anything between that may mean becoming a mindless robot. If you want to die so badly, you had better get creative. Otherwise, quit whining and accept it. Your long life will be happier that way. The three months we've spent -"

"THREE MONTHS!" cut in Xavier, livid almost behind reason.

"Yes! That's how long it took to make sure everything would turn out as planned. In reality, you've been complete and asleep here for two months, and we've checked on you multiple times, but you took your sweet time waking up. Look, just let me finish already! We have spent the time you've been in the hospital building courses for you to test your body and get used to it. This will benefit you in the long run, and will help us better understand exactly what we've accomplished. After that, you can be with your wife, and if for some reason she's changed her mind in the past two months that you've been asleep in here, then I suppose you can join the military or go live under the sea or something legendary like that. Now, are you going to sit there all day, or are you going to sign yourself out of the hospital and wait for your wife to come and get you?"

Angry as he was, Xavier decided he should resolve the problems with Beatrice as soon as he could. The sooner he knew what she wanted, the sooner he could decide how he was supposed to live without her. Xavier put everything out of his mind for the time being. He didn't think about what kind of eternity he would live. He didn't think of why anyone would make something like him. All he wanted was to try and find a normal way to live, and failing that, find a purpose for his new unending life...


	3. Event 2

Rengoku: Decent Into Hell

Event 2: Trials

* * *

><p>Apparently Xavier was known throughout the hospital, because no one flipped out as he went downstairs to sign himself out of the hospital. He sat in the waiting room on the ground floor, hoping his fiance really would be there soon. While he waited, that CEO, Mr. Maro, walked up to him and handed him a thin book. He said something about it explaining his possible capabilities, as well as how to contact his company for where he should go to begin his testing. Xavier looked at his hand, cool metal and some dark blue streaks replacing his skin. If this was his new body, it would be best to understand it like he had his old one. He opened the thin book.<p>

* * *

><p>"This is the theoretical operations manual for A.D.A.M. model version 0.0. In the event of successful manifestation of the unit, as well as successful continuous operation, this manual will provide basic information on the abilities of the body."<p>

Xavier read quietly, using his speech to regulate his reading speed. He had the feeling he could read the entire page at a glace, but he didn't like it.

"A.D.A.M. units are comprised of revolutionary artificial intelligence cells, AI cells for short. Each cell has a base processing threshold, which alone is not enough for the cell to do much of anything. However, upon networking and connecting with other cells, the cluster begins to manifest additional traits. Original experiments showed the ability to command cells to form small structures, simple or complex, and move in coordination. Even more promising, such structures were then capable of continuing patterns and making new forms. In order for such abilities to remain present, an overall mass of one decagram is required at all times. Any less and the system breaks down rapidly. At above one hectogram, the system becomes able to reproduce AI cells. This stage halted development while the system was made cancer-proof, out of fear that the system would reproduce indefinitely. The reproducing system was then capable of vastly lowering production costs, allowing new AI cells to be extracted from existing amounts. This unforeseen development allowed the conception and creation of the A.D.A.M. Project. Above one kilogram, the system showed enough memory to hold above one petabyte of data. Human testing began, possible by simply injecting a small amount of AI cells and networking the internal and external cells. It was quickly found that most subjects could quickly be driven insane."

_Perfect._

"Subjects who were interviewed described the ability to both see and control their bodies from the outside. Further testing was halted once more to find subjects who would volunteer knowing the risks. After several failed attempts, a successful working unit was created. It was human in shape, which allowed the subject to relate to and control the body easier. The split-personality effect, however, resulted in rapid breakdown of both the subject and the unit, causing death. It has now been determined that only by completely transferring a human subject into an A.D.A.M. body will the unit continuously function. Current computer technology cannot properly interface with AI cells above five hectograms, so commanding the sample in any way is impossible. Several A.D.A.M. units have been constructed using AI cells produced from existing samples, but at present cannot move. The following is a list of theoretical capabilities based on all previously explained data..."

* * *

><p>The book went on a few pages to explain that with human knowledge and will, the body should be able to take on any form the subject decides. It listed the obvious risks of multiplying the same unit, as well as the risks of modifying the body too drastically, such as straying from humanoid forms or removing limbs or eyes and such. Nowhere did it list the expected lifespan of a unit, nor what it cost to keep the body running. Would he have to plug himself in every night?! Xavier put his head in his hands, book sitting beside him. He freaked himself out realizing he could still read the book in his head, perfectly remembering every page he had seen. He also freaked himself out when he could tell the exact number of milliseconds that had gone by until someone disturbed him. He felt a human hand come close, before it ever touched him.<p>

"Xavier?" said this person behind him. Without a doubt, it was Beatrice.

Xavier turned his head and stood, facing his fiance. If he knew how to cry, he would have. She looked strung out, worried out of her mind. Somehow he knew she still wanted to stick by him, and thankfully he couldn't blame his new body for knowing that.

"Beatrice... I'm so sorry..." he said, in his own voice. How had he kept that...?

"You don't have to be sorry," she said, twirling a small amount of her straight black hair on her finger. She was nervous? About what?

"What's bothering you?" asked Xavier, even in life not one to avoid problems.

"I... I would understand if you don't... If you don't want to..." She couldn't seem to finish.

"What? Please... Please tell me..."

"If you don't want to marry anymore..."

If he weren't made of metal, Xavier swore her words would have crushed him. She was thinking of him first. He had been so afraid, for his own sake, that she would reject him, he hadn't given her the option first. It hurt.

"I would never say that. And I'm sorry you had to say that and not me. With a body like this, who could want to marry me?..."

Beatrice looked at him in shock. "Body...? Xavier, you don't spend your life with a body; you spend it with a soul!"

Xavier found himself smiling. "Using my own wisdom on me, huh? 'You don't have a soul, you are a soul. You have a body.'"

Beatrice raised her hands like she wanted to hug him, but she faltered. He reached out and hugged her instead. She felt the same, just without the muted feeling through his clothes. It was odd, being naked with nothing to hide, he realized. Unbelievably, Beatrice hugged back, finally crying. He felt her tears directly on his body. Calling it skin seemed off.

"So... Three months means we missed our ceremony. Should we plan a new one?"

"Do you think it's right? To pick up our lives and move on?"

"If all goes well, I might even be able to look and feel human again, so why not? I have to visit this company's offices to be taught to control myself properly, but after that I can go back to living the same way I did before. I may have to work online, though. I doubt anyone will hire me like this..."

"We don't have to work," said Beatrice, pulling away and smiling.

"Excuse me?"

"The company that saved you paid you for volunteering. It was well into the millions is all I've been told, but you should be able to check, right?"

"I should do that first, then."

"Well, first we should go home so you can get some clothes." Beatrice laughed.

"That would probably make it easier to look at me, wouldn't it?"

Xavier couldn't believe how easily Beatrice was taking his new condition. She had had two months to come to terms with what had happened, and Xavier had always known her to be an accepting person. Still, seeing it come so easily to her just made him think of how much further he had to go to catch up with her. She was still a better person than him.

* * *

><p>One awkward subway ride later, and Beatrice was leading him to an apartment she had been paying for out of her savings.<p>

"I was told to keep all of your things, so they're all in the second room. I kept my stuff there too, so the room I've been using is less cluttered..."

Xavier quickly put on black baggy jeans, an orange under-shirt and a black button-up shirt, which he left open.

"Well, at least it's a nice place," said Xavier, his quick look around over. "I wanna take care of this stuff as quickly as possible, so if you want to come with me, I'm heading to the bank and that company now. I'd understand not wanting to wait around in line with me, but would you come with me to the company building? I think it's just as important for you to know what I can do as knowing myself."

"Of course I'll go with you," said Beatrice, a bit confused as to why he'd ask.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, after using a bank ATM to confirm they were indeed rich, the couple arrived at the listed address for the company. Rather than call ahead, Xavier had wanted to simply drop by and see just how ready they were for him. As it turned out, they were very ready, immediately leading him to the first basement floor. Upon his insisting Beatrice go with him, they allowed her down as well. One of the scientists took his clothes, warning him they may be ruined otherwise. Beatrice held on to them, folded over her arms, as Xavier was lead into another room. Thick glass separated the two sides of the floor, and Beatrice watched as Xavier was lead out onto an open stretch of metal flooring. The scientist in the room with Beatrice keyed a loudspeaker.<p>

"Alright, this is a series of tests developed to test your new body. Before we begin, I am required to ask that you attempt to remove at least one kilogram of cells from your body and place them on the ground in the small square you see in front of you."

Xavier said something, but apparently the conversation was one way. He had no choice. First test, he assumed. His body could sense mass, and simply by his will, he let a kilogram of cells form a block in his right palm. It compressed itself to fit the square on the floor. The square sunk into the ground and covered over, hiding the cube he had placed there.

"To explain," said the scientist, "By doing that, you have ensured that even if your body is destroyed by the following tests, you can retain your memories and rebuild yourself. If you wish to be even more safe, make a second cube and place it on the square. It will be kept separate from the first."

Upon hearing this, since he assumed it would be possible these tests would destroy his body, Xavier did make a second cube.

"We will now begin the first test. Please hold still."

A panel on the floor shifted down and slid away, allowing a platform to take its place. An automated gun rested on the platform. Xavier began to panic, throwing up his hands and apparently yelling, but nothing could be heard on the other side of the glass. The gun fired and the scientist looked on without remorse. Beatrice dropped Xavier's clothes and ran for the door to the room, finding it locked.

"Ma'am, it's alright! Just look!" said the scientist, coming over to lead her back to the glass. Sure enough, Xavier was still moving. Bullets passed through him easily, but after the initial mortal panic, he realized it didn't have to hurt. Beatrice and Xavier calmed down until so much of his torso was missing that it couldn't support his arms and head anymore. He fell apart, legs remaining standing, but his arms and head fell to the floor. Beatrice let out a muted squeal at this, but withheld her despair this time. He had lived through a rain of bullets. Would he live through this?

The gun stopped firing and the scientist told Xavier to try and reform himself. The scientist conveniently left out that this was a gamble on Xavier's sanity. Each arm, as well as his head, was well over one kilogram, and they remained in contact wirelessly. Soon, Xavier's head had grown a new torso and he was attempting to command his arms to reattach. When one of his arms finally reached his torso and came in contact, he simply rearranged it so the hand was out and the shoulder was in, effectively reversing it. He did the same to the other, then used his arms to come in contact with his legs. Before the scientist could stop him, he attempted to shift his form again. His upper half was absorbed into his calves, traveled up his legs and grew out of his waist. A quick check of his hands and neck later, Xavier was content with his regeneration.

* * *

><p>"Outstanding. We will begin the second test."<p>

The turret was retracted and replaced with a target dummy. There were metal bulls-eyes on its chest, head, and shoulders.

"Try to shoot those using only your body."

Xavier remembered the book mentioning that he could probably shape his body into something useful at will. It took him several tries, never having fired a gun in his life, to make something that would shoot. Even then, it was a dud, and wasn't accurate enough. Eventually, he gave up on a gun form and made his arm a crossbow instead. He fired perfectly into the chest target with a simple heavy rod, the end made a conical point.

* * *

><p>"Very impressive. I recommend retrieving that bolt before we begin the third test."<p>

Xavier did so, reforming his hand and absorbing the bolt through his palm. The target dummy was replaced with a television screen.

"We are going to play a series of images very quickly, then ask you to shape your hand according to what you see."

A three second video played, ninety frames, and it was over. Xavier, following the string of instructions frame by frame, created a small metal cage in his hand with the letter X inside of it.

"Perfect. That's durability, control, perception, and recreation. Anything beyond these basic abilities is now up to you. On behalf of the company, thank you for volunteering, and you are always welcome back."

The door unlocked audibly and Xavier exited the test room. He got dressed again and he and Beatrice left the building. It went far more smoothly than they had expected. But, then, neither of them ever gave a second thought to where those two kilogram cubes had been taken, or what would become of the data stored within...

* * *

><p>Event 3: Eternity and Instant, coming soon...<p> 


	4. Event 3

Rengoku: Decent Into Hell

* * *

><p>Event 3: Eternity and Instant<p>

* * *

><p>A clear day more than a year later, finally home on the beaches of Florida, Xavier and Beatrice stood on their wedding day. It was a simple ceremony, only a few friends and their immediate family, a few chairs in the sand as the waves rose and fell in the background. Xavier had gotten far better at controlling how he looked, and had even learned to emulate the warmth one would expect from human skin. He was still metal, of course, but in his suit and shined shoes, he was much less startling to look at. The pastor was reading, preparing the two for their vows in the spring sea-breeze and warm sun. Xavier would later be able to recall every single sensation and event, just like everything else that had happened to him since waking in his hospital bed...<p>

* * *

><p>A particularly large wave built up, the sand swirling in the water. When it crashed in the background it seemed to split around a pole, or some obstruction. Water ran off the surface of the disturbance, shining in the Florida sun. Its arms looked like spiked clubs, its legs thick for stability, its barrel chest made to look like many ribs for intimidation, and its head was featureless except for eyes. Its flat, broad feet, indistinguishable from its legs, thudded in the soft, wet sand. And it was walking right toward Beatrice and Xavier.<p>

"Holy shit!" yelled a guest, standing up and stepping back.

"Xavier! What is that?!" asked Beatrice, stepping away from it as well.

"Everyone get back!" ordered Xavier, starting to unbutton his suit. He undressed unnaturally fast, had his clothes folded and was handing them to Beatrice.

"I don't like this. Get everyone to their cars."

"What about you?!" asked Beatrice, holding his clothes and shoes.

Xavier smiled, keeping his human-styled face. "I've got this..."

He turned to face the figure, his face reverting to the odd, design-riddled one he had woken with. The metal on his body once again had different shades of steel gray, purple lines snaking everywhere. He kept himself light and hollow to emulate his human weight most often. Beatrice knew that, and she noticed when Xavier's footprints got deeper and deeper as he approached the threatening metal figure.

"What do you want? Who sent you?!" demanded Xavier, addressing the figure.

The figure stopped walking, about four meters away. It said nothing, mouth or no mouth.

"I won't ask again," said Xavier, clenching a fist and letting it grow into a sword.

Still the figure said nothing.

"Last. Chance." Xavier's other arm flattened from the elbow down, widening into a shield.

No response.

"Then back to the sea with you."

* * *

><p>Xavier struck first, his sword ringing off the monster's metal skin. It swung one of its club-arms at him, but he easily blocked with his shield-arm. He pushed back on the attack, throwing the large figure off balance. This time Xavier stabbed with the sword, piercing the monster through the stomach. He twisted the sword and ripped it out to the right. The figure stumbled, wounded. As Xavier and everyone watched, the figure's wound stitched closed and became seamless in seconds. Now Xavier knew for sure. The figure was an A.D.A.M., just like him. An android. The figure paused a moment, a symbol appearing on its face. Xavier translated it as the symbol for battle in another language. The symbol vanished and the figure began walking toward him again. Xavier's chest deformed, slots appearing on his back and a minigun barrel jutting from his chest. The barrel began to turn and Xavier rained fire on his enemy. Shell casings popped from the slots in his back. He still thought like a human, and still mimicked what he saw instead of being creative with himself. The android was quickly becoming formless, the many holes in it making it incapable of maintaining its own weight. As it drooped, Xavier struck with his sword-arm. He slashed over and over, not a motion wasted, separating the android from as much of itself as possible. It fell apart, falling to the sand in a strange goo. The pieces started glowing orange, burning themselves up. By the time they were gone, the only evidence the thing had been there were its footprints and the small, smoking patches of glass in the sand.<p>

Beatrice approached, cautious. "What was that?" she asked.

"I don't k-" started Xavier. He reformed his arms to catch Beatrice as she went down. The same bullets that pierced her heart perfectly seemed to bury themselves deep in his soul. For a full ten seconds, Xavier was shocked still. His bride lay dead in his arms, just like that. He would have time to mourn, in fact, he had an eternity. He looked to one of the guests, Beatrice's father, to take her. Xavier had to make sure they got away, and he didn't want them to see him now. Once every eye had turned, and even after a few bullets had leapt from the water and struck him in the back, Xavier let himself feel rage.

* * *

><p>Xavier had never been very creative. He'd been good in school, bad at sports, and had been a decent guitarist. He had planned to join the military until he met Beatrice. She was from a rich family, and her father had hired him. He'd worked by day and had a happy life, getting a place where he and Beatrice could live together and planning for the future. They had been on their first paid vacation, a trip to New York City, when Xavier had saved the CEO of the company that had made him what he was now. After he'd woke, they'd just let him go. He never knew why, until today. It wasn't him they'd wanted, it was what he'd become. He finally knew where those two back-ups of himself had gone...<p>

There must have been at least a hundred of them rising from the sea. Simply walking out of the water amidst the waves and littered seashells. It was surreal, honestly. The fluttering white tapestry hung from a few folding chairs, the folded suit in the sand, the gentle lapping waves, and the metal bodies rising from the ocean. Xavier had never been creative. But this wasn't Xavier Alighieri anymore. His right arm became hollow, four small spikes framing the opening to what may have been a gun-barrel. His left arm extended and deformed, looking like a bat wing. Xavier fixed his eyes on the closest enemy and started walking. The air between the "bones" of his left arm shimmered, as did the air in front of the barrel formed by his right arm. One of the many androids rushed to attack him. Xavier already knew, they were different. The first one he had killed was dead long before he started slashing. They didn't have the damage resistance he had, or the ability to maintain themselves. He swung his right arm as if there were a blade extending from the opening of the barrel... And cut his attacker off at the waist in a hiss of burning metal. As its upper body fell back, he stabbed through its chest and into an eye. The figure turned to sludge around his ethereal sword, falling to the sand and burning itself up. In Xavier's possession, part of him now, were the first plasma weapons to be seen by man. Xavier kept walking, his entire body thinking of what other weapons he could use to purge every metal monster on the beach...

* * *

><p>It took Xavier barely an hour to cut down every last enemy walking out of the salt water. When he emerged, alone, with his entire body weaponized, no one recognized him. His head had a frightful expression underneath the barrel of a railgun, the exhaust ports on the back of his head making him look alien. Between openings on his chest, a blue energy of some kind glowed through. His legs blended perfectly with the rest of his body, appearing like the legs of a demon. Xavier had recolored himself a tarnished gold color, and no longer moved his mouth to speak.<p>

"I am going to the military with this. I will alert everyone, then I'm going after Maro."

Xavier's voice came out, but it seemed devoid of his soul. He was hiding behind his robotic body, keeping the pain of what he'd just witnessed at bay. Beatrice's father tried to reason with him, calling Xavier by name when he didn't listen.

"Never call me that again. Refer to me now as Gram. Xavier died on his wedding day, with the love of his life in his arms."

After that, no words could stop Xavier. He just started walking, and never looked back.

* * *

><p>When Gram reached the roads, he started running. His body worked internally to generate massive amounts of power, and he ran faster than every car on the highway. He went straight to the nearest military base, collected radio data he intercepted, and found the commander of the base in less than five minutes. When he had, he approached without heed to any warning. Several times he was fired upon, but a few stray bullets could not even slow him down. The commander of the base was near a runway today, overseeing flights of several veteran pilots. It was a personal thing for the commander, not something he'd been required to do. Nothing could prepare him for the metal demon that would vault over the wall, walk right behind the jet-wash of a fighter preparing to take flight, and stand before him. Gram's body was smoking from the high heat he'd just walked through, yet he wasn't even phased. He wasn't thinking like a human anymore.<p>

"Sir, I've come to you to report what I believe will be the start of a war," said Gram.

"How did you find me?! And what war? Should I expect more of you?!"

"More like me, yes, but you may never see me again. I will leave a drive behind with all the necessary data to explain myself, as I cannot stay long. If I don't move to stop this now, I believe many innocent people will die."

Gram knelt, placing the end of his shield-arm on the hot paved ground. When he lifted it, a piece of metal was left behind. Ports of all kinds compatible with computers were open on it, and it contained the footage of his fight, how to kill him and those like him, and all data he had on the company that had made him. Gram knew they'd be too cautious to inspect it right away, so he left the drive there and hoped the military would be ready in time. Before anyone could ask any further questions, he stepped back, hunched over and paused. His back convulsed, swelled near the shoulder-blades, and wings shot out of his back. The wings were massive, hollow, and large enough to lift him off the ground once he'd made himself hollow as well. Everyone on the base that saw him fly away had to question their sanity...

* * *

><p>As Gram flew, he allowed his mind to wander, but to safe places. He could use his body to make his own rocket and go to Venus, become an explorer for the good of humanity. Walk the depths of the oceans, dive into volcanoes, and stand inside tornadoes. He could become the best instrument for science ever created with the freedom these AI cells gave him. He could easily learn any language, and in fact he decided he would as soon as he found a way to connect himself to the internet. Through him, a new age could be ushered in for humanity. He knew himself well enough that he could keep any feelings of superiority in check, and never become a tyrant or conquer anyone. He would simply be a beacon of knowledge and generosity. And it would all start when he got to New York City and burned every scrap of the company that had made him. He knew, just from the incident at the beach, that the company wasn't planning on being peaceful with their creations. What if they sold A.D.A.M. units to companies or countries around the world? The wars would be endless. Even if it meant becoming a murderer and serving a sentence, Gram was determined not to allow that. On his flight, he resolved himself... To trade one eternity for another, which was stolen from him in the blink of an eye...<p>

* * *

><p>Event 4: Momentum coming soon...<p>

* * *

><p>Author Note: To see a good picture of Gram as he will be for the rest of the story, and of default A.D.A.M. units, which he was until now, just Google "Rengoku Gram" under Images.<p> 


	5. Event 4

Event 4: Momentum

* * *

><p>Gram entered New York City airspace, still ignoring all the military warnings, waiting for the men he'd informed to pass on their information. He'd set the drive that he left behind to destroy itself after it had been properly accessed and copied into a computer. As he came within view of the company building he had targeted, he began pulling everything out of his memory he could concerning the building. He also started clusters of himself working on developing an internet connection. Individual groups of his AI cells began working on many things at once, perfectly preparing him for any situation he may encounter. All that kept him from being completely machine were his memories, and his lacking imagination.<p>

"What have I become?" he said to himself, yet another human trait still within him.

Gram landed on the roof of the company building, reabsorbed his wings, and prepared to jump to the ground floor. All the material from his wings that didn't go back into his body, filling the hollow places he'd left to lighten himself, he had melted. The thing that frightened Gram most was his ability to build and destroy himself at will. All his AI cells safely back inside his weaponized body, Gram jumped from the roof of a building 45 floors high. He hit the ground with a heavy metal crash, making a crater in the sidewalk and kicking up dust. Without heed for the front door, Gram strode forward, breaking through the door as if it didn't even exist. Police sirens sounded far away and an alarm went off in the building. If Gram weren't still furious, he may have been far more subtle. But he was here to stop the company that saved him from what he feared would be endless wars.

Gram approached the front desk, accessing the computer directly through a cable that snaked out of his chest. He no longer needed to work on how to access the internet, and he was now able to map the entire building.

"I'm a monster..." he thought, almost viewing himself from outside the situation. "But I'm here to stop many more monsters..."

Using the cameras in the building, Gram located the CEO, a Mr. Maro whom he'd never really liked. He was on one of the upper floors, panicking in his office. Gram placed the end of his shield-arm on the floor, letting a small drone crawl out. It was programmed to cut the phone lines to the building, then glass itself. Gram walked over to the elevators, finding one already on the ground floor, and stepped in. The elevator creaked under his weight and he didn't dare look to see if the warning went on. He slammed his shield-arm through the panel on the ceiling, jumped through, and started climbing the elevator shaft.

* * *

><p>"Hello?! Shit!" Maro, the CEO Gram was targeting, had just been cut off from his phone call. He started tearing apart his office looking for his cell phone. Finding it, he put in the key to get on his private elevator. He had a plan to fend off Xavier, who he knew this must be invading the building. Xavier didn't know it yet, but even if he succeeded in destroying the entire building, basement included, he still couldn't stop the project Maro had started. It was too far along now. Xavier would find out; Maro would tell him, to live a few moments longer, to hear his response, and to feel the power that would give him. The elevator notified him that he was below ground level now. All he had to do now was wait...<p>

* * *

><p>Gram burst into Maro's office to find it empty. He saw the entrance to the private elevator and knew he was too late to catch him here. If Gram still had fists, he would have clenched them in frustration. Gram raised his sword arm, letting the barely visible plasma blade extend. The only evidence of the deadly energy blade was the faint blue glow it gave off, electrifying the air it came in contact with. Gram slashed an X in the door to the elevator and jumped down the shaft. He thickened his legs, losing the demonic appearance they'd had to prepare for the heavy fall damage. Crushing him would do no good, but he didn't want to waste time recovering from the fall either. He landed on the roof of the elevator at the bottom of the shaft, crushing it completely. He slashed through the elevator door and stepped out of the shaft and into a laboratory. Blocks of AI cells were everywhere. On tables, in machines, in stacks, but all of them were inactive. Gram released several drones to access them and relay any information as he pressed onward, careful to program each drone to destroy itself after it completed its task. The AI cells had been empty shells, with no programming. He had the drones fuse with them and destroy every single one before searching for more. Every room he passed, he did the same, starting to release drones with more and more complex orders. Finally, he was releasing drones that would scour the building and erase all data kept there, but not before relaying all of it back to Gram.<p>

Before long, Gram came into a large open room, like an underground warehouse. Hundreds of blank A.D.A.M. units stood idle. Gram released drones that would access them and destroy them after. He found all of them were programmed for combat, ready to be connected to a simple computer and given orders to kill anything and anyone the programmer desired. They all had basic weapons data, however they all lacked the ability to build themselves like Gram had. Perhaps only units made from humans could do so, or perhaps the feature had been left out in fear that they would become uncontrollable. Either way, Gram purged them all, walking ever forward. He was heading for the other end of the warehouse when he heard someone call out to him.

* * *

><p>"That's you, isn't it Xavier!?" shouted Maro from a catwalk attached to the wall on Gram's left.<p>

"I go by Gram, now," responded the death-machine Maro had spoken to.

"I can see you're here to put an end to my dreams," yelled Maro, obviously angry, and looking a bit crazed.

Behind Gram, hundreds of A.D.A.M. units were glassing themselves. Disappearing into smoke, ionized metal, and patches of floor covered with hissing and spitting molten metal.

"What gave me away?" asked Gram rhetorically.

Maro laughed. "I've come down here to LET you do all this. And to tell you you're far too late! Units have already been shipped out and sold around the world. You'll never catch them before they multiply. They're all set to do battle, but you and I both know wars don't start for no reason! I already have seven other human subjects like you spreading out to start the wars I need."

"There are seven others like me?!"

"Oh, no! There are eleven like you! Twelve in total! I was to be the thirteenth, but now that you're here, it's too late. So, before you kill me, would you like to hear my plans?!"

Gram stayed silent. He wanted to know, but he'd let Maro talk. No use leading a liar.

"I'll take that as a 'yes.'"

* * *

><p>"You've read the book I gave you, you know the basics of our research here. And I'm sure you've taken all the data you didn't have by now during this visit. So here's what's not documented, only what the others know. In a few days, when they are all in position, the seven I've assigned will begin killing random people in the names of other countries. When questioned, every country will be found to have had units they were hiding, and everyone will feel betrayed. What they don't know is that the moment they activate their own units for battle, the seven are set to infect them all with a program that will begin the wars. With only the twelve units under my company's direct control able to reproduce AI cells, my company will begin making money hand over fist as the world rushes to defend itself FROM itself! Oh, but it gets even better! No war lasts forever, so in remote locations on every continent, the seven who start the war will construct towers built to contain the residual units. We'll start tournaments will all surviving units, infect all of them with viruses to program them perfectly, and make even more money from the broadcast from within the towers! People will step forward, carefully planted, and suggest this to end the violence. The world, tired of war, will comply. Not only will this bring about a long lasting peace, but my company will become the most powerful international organization in history!"<p>

* * *

><p>By the end, Maro was panting, spitting at every percussive sound, and sounded practically insane.<p>

"Well, now there's a flaw," said Gram. "I know about it. And I came to stop any such plans you had. If I can't stop the units, I'll broadcast your speech here to the world. I heard it and saw it all, and I can now release all of it to the public."

"Yes, I thought you might. Which is why I made sure to have a back-up plan! Gryphus!"

"Gryph-?!" started Gram. Something heavy had just landed on his back, and was shoving something into his neck. Gram opened an eye on the back of his head to see what had attacked him.

It was another A.D.A.M. unit, blood-red and demonic. It was stabbing a separate device into him, staring at him with a face just like his; hidden under the barrel of some weapon. The unit jumped backwards, crushing the device he'd stabbed into Gram.

"What have you done?!" demanded Gram, looking from the unit to Maro.

"Don't worry, you'll only be out for a few days!" yelled Maro, hysterical.

"Damn you! Enough!" Gram aimed the railgun on his head at Maro and blasted a round through his chest. Maro died instantly, but the unit behind Gram was on the move.

"Get back here!" roared Gram, firing his railgun at the "Gryphus."

Gryphus dodged the shot and ran from the room, aiming to escape the basement. Gram took a step and fell to the floor, his leg liquifying. One look at the virus infecting his body and he knew what it would do. He would lose his memories after he deformed, but only for a few days. They would simply be partitioned separate from his consciousness. Unable to control himself, he would lay there until the timer on the program ticked down, finally letting him retake control of his body. It was set for a month.

* * *

><p>As Gram fell apart, collapsing into a puddle of AI cells on the floor, he mourned those who would die because of his failure. And he vowed, no matter what it cost him, he would find a way to end what Maro had set in motion. What he forgot was that things set in motion, especially downhill, tend to pick up speed, and become much, much harder to stop...<p>

* * *

><p>Event 5: Seven Deadly Sins coming soon...<p>

* * *

><p>Author Note: Just to get this out there, the reason this is paced so fast is to cover as much story as quickly as possible. I don't want to add too much detail or personality to characters, since the games didn't give them much. I also must point out that this is based on Tower Of Purgatory, not Stairway To H.E.A.V.E.N. This fic is to be more like a legend than a story, the roles each person playing more important than the person themselves...<p> 


	6. Event 5

Event 5: Purgatory (name changed...)

* * *

><p>3...<p>

2...

1...

)))Partition Disabled(((  
>)))Returning To Operation-Ready Status(((<p>

* * *

><p>The pile of ooze on the floor that was Gram began to congeal. As it came together, recoloring to a light bronze color and reforming to Gram's recognizable form, Gram's memories came rushing back as well. He'd been out for a month, and the facility he'd attacked had been closed down for investigation. As he rose, he found it to be the middle of the night. Gram glowed from within, gaps in his chest giving off a faint blue light from the plasma he kept at the ready within himself. Gram made his way to the elevator shafts, seeing that Maro's old private elevator was still out of order. Gram had pancaked it on his way down. As Gram made his way out, he began to wonder why Maro hadn't just had him infected with a virus that would kill him. Instead, he'd been infected with something to stall him, uncontrollably, for a month. Now Gram was free, on the move, and furious. Maro was the only person he'd ever killed, and he intended to keep it that way. As Gram climbed the elevator shaft he got to work changing his body. Very small cameras, with eye-level resolution, spotted his body and soon he was able to dynamically recolor himself for perfect camouflage. Stepping carefully around the police lines and caution signs, Gram exited the building on the ground floor. This late, it would be much harder to spot Gram in his camouflaged state, even in the city that never sleeps. Gram magnetized his hands and feet and started climbing the side of the building. He needed to get on a rooftop to fly away. While he climbed, at last exposed to the open sky, he began intercepting broadcasts and searching the internet for signs of war. Sure enough, just like Maro planned, several countries were already at war using the A.D.A.M. units as shock troops. The United States was openly admitting that they had already lost control off all units, and were trying to fight off the very androids they had unleashed. Gram had no way of finding the seven he needed to kill in order to put a stop to it all.<p>

* * *

><p>Gram reached the roof, then took his time building his wings. He needed to liter those with cameras as well, and maintaining his camouflage took a certain level of skill. His entire body would work on it passively, but he wanted to be sure it wouldn't fail him. He wasn't worried about radar, since even if he showed up, no one could see him. Just before he took off, Gram remembered the towers Maro had mentioned. Surely his company wouldn't wait long to declare them ready and begin rounding up the rampaging units. With innocents and soldiers dead already climbing into hundreds of thousands, the world was already in a state of panic. On paper, Maro's company had already dissolved, and there were records of criminal trials all over the internet. But just by the reports of strange towers building themselves, Gram would know they were still active. Until he heard that report, Gram was satisfied with finding the biggest concentration of A.D.A.M.'s and hunting them down. If he killed them fast enough, no one would be building them fast enough. Maro hadn't planned on the world instantly pointing the finger at his company as soon as the units went rogue. No one was making new units, unless the other eleven units like Gram were doing it just for fun. The largest concentration of units was in Europe, centered near France and Germany. Gram took off at last, his flight plan set to take him right into the heart of battle, and save as many humans as he could...<p>

* * *

><p>"Reports are coming in of a lone A.D.A.M. fighting off the masses. Since his appearance just yesterday, all rogue units have begun to converge on him. Centered on the border of France and Belgium, this android has released broadcasts in every language to avoid the area and evacuate citizens as soon as possible. Allied military surveillance has confirmed that this android is capable of repairing itself instead of just reforming like standard units. A family from the United States approached the press to report him as the first successful A.D.A.M. unit, who calls himself Gram. Here, east of London, you can see behind me the red horizon. I assure you, the sun still sets in the west, and that color is no setting sun. Gram has been employing massive amounts of plasma, presumably made within his own body somehow, to scorch the earth and every rogue android that dares approach him. At first, Gram was reported to have been bronze in color, with a consistent appearance, which you can see at our website. However, in recent hours, he has begun to morph his body into nightmare inducing forms, last reported to be a dragonoid. Allied military forces are convening to decide whether to offer help, or to just let this unlikely hero fend for himself... Reporting live, th-"<p>

Gram cut the broadcast feed. Just as planned, if he only kept up his fighting, he could drastically reduce the number of units, and perhaps even get the world to work together in getting rid of the threat. He was glad the world was now paying attention to his struggle, and that they had updated information on what he looked like. He was, in fact, using the guise of a dragon at the moment. Rogue units by the hundreds were pouring over the hills, some of them firing simple weapons, others with sword and shield arms. Gram, enlarged with four legs to support his plasma-producing belly, was spewing hot electrified gas to melt them the moment they were in range. The result was a huge metal dragon breathing blue rivers of fire and scorching the dirt. The earth around Gram smouldered and glowed, with both the plasma he employed and the rogue units destroying their critically damaged bodies. Gram fought well into the night, a tireless machine...

* * *

><p>It would be weeks of fighting for Gram before the first signs of the towers Maro mentioned would appear. The first report was of a tower appearing in a patch of land north of Prague, Czech Republic. The moment the report reached Gram, he hollowed most of his body, sprouted wings on his dragon-like form, and flew off, right at it. In flight, he reformed himself to his usual form. With his sword-arm running off of plasma, he didn't need to make more. His shield arm was at the ready as well. For the railgun on his head, Gram readied several rounds in his neck. He edited his demonic legs for balance, and prepared his chest to release shots of plasma. Sure enough, the foundation of a mechanical tower was clearly visible. In the center, there was a humanoid figure, which Gram could make out as an A.D.A.M. unit. Gram landed just inside the foundation of the tower, close enough to the enemy unit that they could start a fight, but far enough away that he could see the first attack coming.<p>

"I was expecting you, Gram," transmitted the unit. "I am called Mars. I'm sure you came looking for a fight, but I have to apologize. I can't waste my time fighting with such a simple enemy. You're here to destroy the tower, then do so. I have been told not to stop you, since I'm not supposed to be seen by the public. As we speak, the media is on the way here. We'll meet again, I promise, in Purgatory..."

With that, Mars fell into a puddle of AI cell ooze. When Gram approached the ooze, he found that it had just been a copy with orders to say his line and complete the tower if possible. Gram glassed the AI cells to be safe. He regrew his wings, took off, and began gathering information. He needed to find the rest of the towers...

* * *

><p>Antarctica, Africa, Australia, Asia, North America, South America; one after another, they all sprouted towers. One by one, Gram attacked at destroyed the towers at the base. His plan was working. The world had organized and wars were being fought to finish off the threat that had appeared overnight. Almost a year after the start of the incident, Gram could safely say things were looking up. He still hadn't found the real seven androids, but once the mass produced units were all gone, the eleven others like him wouldn't be able to hide. Gram was in the air, flying toward Europe over the Atlantic ocean when panicked broadcasts finally reached him. All remaining A.D.A.M. units had broken off from battle and started heading the same direction. They also began displaying the ability to repair themselves. By the time the broadcasts reached Gram, it was too late. A cloud thick with rogue units was flying toward him. Gram began working on a way to fight while in the air, about to abandon his flapping angel wings, which he had chosen for the aesthetics. But he didn't need to; the units ignored him, heading for North America. No information pointed out why they would head there, so it confused Gram. Were they receiving orders? Since no global information could give him an answer, Gram joined the flock. It took only moments for him to perfectly mimic the units surrounding him. Visually, he was just another rogue unit now...<p>

* * *

><p>The mass of flying A.D.A.M.'s entered the United States of America, joining with other "flocks" from around the world. When Gram saw where they were going, he nearly broke his illusion in surprise. In New Mexico, in a large patch of deserted land, a huge tower rose from the earth. The levels of the tower floated above one another, the base level being the widest. It looked to be conical in shape, but with layers and the tip sliced off. The rogue units landed outside the tower and began entering doors that formed on all four sides of the tower. Gram debated breaking formation again, but if he did and was forced to fight all the units surrounding him, he wouldn't be able to repair himself fast enough to survive the battle. He was forced to land now, maintaining his illusion. He continued to receive broadcasts. His heart sank as he listened to humanity falling into the very plan he had fought to destroy. A "new" company had emerged and had presented just one tower as the plan, not the seven Gram had destroyed. With the world war torn, and this company vowing to put all of the profit from the tower into the rebuilding effort, no one protested. All the world had to do to rebuild itself was just watch television? Of course they'd cooperate! Gram landed just like all the other units, withdrawing his wings and entering the tower. When he entered, he was forcibly implanted with a virus that would make him perfect for the tower.<p>

Gram broke his illusion, separating an arm and throwing it out the door before the crowd forced him further in. The arm landed in the dirt and reformed, skittering away as a drone. It was a back-up of himself, enough mass to contain more than enough memory for such a purpose. It also followed Gram's new protocol for viral infection. Both Gram and his backup isolated AI cells that were infected, then ejected the mass to destroy itself. Gram and his backup, now uninfected, were prepared to destroy the tower. A broadcast in the tower and around the world on a new channel, dedicated only to the tower, sounded loud and clear.

"Preparation for preliminary rounds complete. All captured units can now repair themselves until critical mass is reached. Once below critical mass, the unit will collapse forever. After the preliminary round, new rules will be issued. Here, on the first floor, all units are being ordered to fight to the death, until numbers are reduced to a manageable level."

* * *

><p>Gram instantly reformed himself to his recognizable self, and started slicing up every unit he could reach. The burned and cauterized AI cells his attacks left behind were hard to repair, and quickly he had to move to continue his assault. But he wasn't the only one who had leapt into battle. All over the room, units with naturally faster processing speed were gaining the upper hand. Gram assumed at least eleven others had to be human subjects, like himself, but there were more than eleven gifted units to be found in the crowd of millions. After ten minutes of battle, Gram singing victory with every slash, something began to throw the lesser units into a panic. The walls of the lowest level of the tower, which had been far wider than any other floating level above them, had begun to rotate and close in on them. Units which came in contact with the wall were yanked in and shredded. The smarter units began fighting toward the center, but the smartest stayed just ahead of the wall of death.<p>

On only moments, more than 90% of the remaining rogue A.D.A.M. units had either been shredded by the trapped wall or their fellow units. A buzzer sounded and an another announcement sounded.

"The number of remaining units is now within manageable parameters. Please stay clear of the wall as if finishes constricting. Every surviving unit will now be asked to step onto the platform that will appear now. As each steps on it, their AI cells will dissolve and all data transmitted from the cells will enter a new unit on one of the upper floors. This form of 'teleportation' will be the main method for moving between floors. For this first session, teleportation will be randomized, and will evenly split units on every floor. Guardians will be selected and tasked with preventing other units from reaching the top. Any unit that reaches the top will be set free. Only one unit is allowed this reward. Units are encouraged to make a show of fighting one another, as viewers around the world are watching. They will receive commentary on fights, be able to place bets, and all profits will go to rebuilding the world you are responsible for ravaging. Fight on!"

* * *

><p>The units began the long process of being transported to their new bodies. Gram, however, stood away from the glowing red circle. He didn't intend on changing bodies. Once the wall finished constricting, Gram noticed stairs forming. They hadn't been given a choice, but Gram assumed those stairs were the alternative. To avoid being trapped in a virus-infected body, he headed for the stairs. All he had to do was reach the top. He wasn't interested in fighting. And since this tower was also made of AI cells, Gram figured it could repair itself. When he tested this, he found that he couldn't even damage the walls or floor. The tower, if it was living, had the sole purpose of containing all the units within. There would be no escape. Gram didn't care. One way or another, he was obviously going to be the one to escape. He was human. He had a superior body. He would be victorious.<p>

* * *

><p>Thus the Tower Of Purgatory was filled, it's inhabitants thrust into battle. At first, it seemed Gram would reach the top in only days. But one guardian saw the tower as the place they all belonged. This guardian, Gryphus, saved from a live of suffering by Mr. Maro and given his new body, would fight with all he had to stop Gram from leaving. The two wouldn't meet until Gram reached him, guarding the way to the top floor and the way out, but it seemed decided by fate that they would fight... Outside the tower, two A.D.A.M. units found Gram's back-up unit. One of them looked alien and very powerful, seeming to have perfect understanding of his capability. The other, beside and behind him in the desert, in the shadow of The Tower Of Purgatory, seemed to wear a white wedding dress, with white skin smooth as alabaster. The plan wasn't over yet. Another tower needed building. One to take the winner from the first and truly make it an avatar of virtue. That tower, one that hadn't been planned by Maro and his company, was The Stairway To H.E.A.V.E.N...<p>

* * *

><p>Event 6: Accepting Sin coming soon...<p>

* * *

><p>Author Note: It's fanfiction, and it's the only Rengoku one on , so I'm going to be honest here... I'm fusing the better story of Rengoku 1 with the length and purpose of Rengoku 2. I'll do my best to add a little personality and feels to the story, but like I said before, this is supposed to be more of a legend-type story, more focused on the action and meaning of each person's place, not who they are. Hope you've enjoyed so far...<p> 


	7. Event 6

Event 6: Viral Blessing (name changed...)

* * *

><p>The first floor of The Tower Of Purgatory was like a joke. Stark white walls everywhere and nothing but the weakest units of all. Some barely had time to devise weapons before Gram cut them down. Gram quickly cleared every room of units, watching them sink through the floor to be relocated by the tower to the lowest floor. Anyone Gram defeated would be forced to fight their way back up the tower. All of them were programmed with the need to escape now, but all were not created equal. When he was the last unit on the floor, a small elevator extended from the ceiling, just big enough for one person to stand on. Gram stepped in and the elevator climbed. As Gram passed between the gaps in the floating sections of the tower, he could see the outside. He tried firing a railgun round from his head to break the glass he was looking though, but it didn't even crack. The elevator reached the next floor, placing Gram in a room with one door. Gram quickly opened the door and was met with the first assigned guardian. It was Mars, whom he'd seen in Europe.<p>

"A-challenger? You-must-defeat-me-to-proceed-to-the-next-level," said Mars. All shred of his former self was gone. If this was the same unit Gram had seen as a decoy, with intelligent speech and interesting design, he was playing a rather horrible joke.

"What happened to you, Mars? You used to be just like me. Is this what I would have become if I'd stepped into that red light?"

"Talking-is-irrelevant. It-only-delays-progress. Disengage-your-speech-circuits-and-switch-to-battl e-mode."

"I suppose talking to a mindless robot is pointless. Very well."

Mars walked toward Gram, swords growing from his arms and a revolver pistol's barrel growing from his forehead. He fired a few bullets from the revolver, the rounds pinging off Gram's hardened shell. When he got within range, Mars slashed at Gram with a sword-arm. Gram raised his shield-arm and blocked the strike, effortlessly. With his sword-arm, Gram sliced Mars' head off, cut him at the waist, then stabbed through his falling torso and his fallen head. The battle was over, Gram was victorious, and the door leading on unlocked. Before Gram could leave, memories from Mars flooded him. Mars' true memories had been locked away inside him, partitioned so he would serve as a guardian. Mars had been a member of some military before becoming an A.D.A.M. Mars was the second successful unit. He was always regarded as a proud man, and when the company that saved his life called on him to serve them, he'd taken the offer in an instant. In the end his pride would be his downfall, forcing him to uphold his honor and repay the debt he'd incurred. Now he was trapped in this tower forever, his true self screaming from behind the crippled android's eyes.

* * *

><p>The next floor was more of the same. Some new weapons were present, evidence that these units had more time to analyze their bodies before preparing to fight. Still, Gram cut them down in an instant. By now he was a master of plasma. No other unit could handle the heat and electricity and magnetism it took to control such a power. In less than an hour, Gram was heading to the next guardian. This time, the guardian was ready for a fight. It was white, with a submachine gun growing from its head, a gatling gun in its chest, a rifle arm, a shield arm, and odd legs with spikes in the knees. This unit didn't speak at all. Gram waited for the unit to make the first move. When it started firing every weapon it had, running quickly around the room to avoid counterattacks, Gram simply stood in one place and took the attacks. Round after round pinged off his armor, or crumpled upon hitting him and fell to the floor. Gram fired a railgun round from his head, which this guardian tried to block with its shield-arm. The round pierced right through its shield and tore out a great deal of its gatling system. The unit fell to its knees, then into a puddle on toe floor, sinking into it just like every other unit. The doors unlocked and Gram continued forward.<p>

* * *

><p>Every time it was the same. Units every floor up were a bit smarter, a bit faster, and seemed to think a bit more. Gram would cut them down, confront the floor guardian, fight, and win. In only hours, Gram was on the elevator taking him to the final guardian. Once outside the tower, Gram intended on taking his time and building a device that would fry the place and everything in it. If no AI cells existed but his, he could continue with his dream of advancing science and helping humanity. The elevator reached its destination and Gram stepped through the door. On the other side of the stark white room stood a blood-red, demonic unit. On one arm, a shield in the form of an arm holding a curved blade and a curved blade jutting from the shoulder blade. On the other, an opening for a highly focused laser, designed like a spiked stinger. For the chest, an oversized railgun with long thin spikes protruding out and down from the back to stabilize. The legs the same demonic nails and designs as Gram. The head a scowl hidden under the barrel of a flame-thrower, the tanks of fuel resting on the unit's head. It was Gryphus.<p>

"End of the line, Gram. You won't escape. I can't let anyone leave this place."

"And who are you to decide that?" asked Gram, ready for a fight.

"I am now assigned as the guardian of this tower, and I was its creator. I've seen the horrors of humanity, lived a life as low as anyone, and I've been given a way to ensure that no one ever has to suffer that way again. By trapping the technology that makes us in this tower, after showing its power to the world in the form of death and despair, humanity will make money and use that money for peaceful application. No more weapons. No more war. No more needless death. It is my purpose to never let anyone out of here. You are no different."

"I'm sure if we talked about this you would see I am different. But regardless of whether we came to an understanding or not, I'd still have to kill you to be set free. So I will just ask you to trust me, and give me a good fight. I need to pay you back for that cheap shot in New York."

"Even if I could trust you, no one can survive an existence such as this and never be corrupted by it. Even if you escape and help humanity for many years, one day you will grow tired and you will cause more death and more war. Consider it a blessing, then, that you are free here to fight or not fight, and live on forever."

Gram shook his head, and would have closed his eyes if he had any.

"Gryphus, this place is called The Tower Of Purgatory for a reason. Of all the units made from humans, and all the units contained here, I have committed the least sins. If anyone should be given a second chance, it should be me. And once I'm free, I can get rid of all the mindless, mass produced units and free you as well. Then you can keep me in check and I can keep you in check. Would that please you?"

"I'm sorry, Gram. But we humans are just as flawed as the machines we've created. No matter what you say, this will end with your defeat. And once you die, the system will partition you just like all the others. I alone have been spared, in order to do my duty and follow my orders in the best manner. Goodbye, Gram. I hope you enjoy your many years in this tower, fighting to your heart's content."

* * *

><p>Gryphus charged as a solemn melody sounded over the loudspeakers. Gram was the first challenger to reach the end. As humanity watched, Gram and Gryphus fought. The only thing they'd heard were Gryphus' final two sentences. Now all they heard were the clashes of Gryphus and Gram, the shots they fired, and the orchestral piece that seemed to conduct the fight. Gram was struck only once, but the instant there was an opening in his armor, Gryphus was on him. Gryphus shoved the curved blade from his shield-arm into the gap, twisted, and kicked Gram away. Gram could feel the infection spreading into his body, but couldn't tell what it was supposed to do. He fought on, letting his body try to partition the virus-infected cells.<p>

Gram and Gryphus fought for hours. It seemed it would be endless after the night turned to day. But Gryphus had a final trick he'd saved. When at last every AI cell in Gram's body contained the virus he'd planted, Gryphus stomped his foot and sent a signal to Gram's body to lock up. Gram's attack halted mid-swing, and he fell to his knees. With effort, Gram looked up at Gryphus, trying to regain control of his body. Gryphus approached him and with every step, renewed the lock-up signal. When at last he reached Gram, aiming his laser arm at Gram's head, he spoke once more, just for Gram to hear.

"Maybe you are worthy to escape... But you will prove that yourself. Reach me again someday, surpass me, and become the kind of person you are now in your next life. If you prove you are incorruptible, and you defeat me, I will have no regrets for losing. But I believe that day is many years from now... Once again, goodbye, Gram."

The laser in Gryphus' arm charged visibly, and the last thing Gram would see was the flash of light that burned his AI cells down to almost nothing. With barely over a kilogram left of himself, he sank into the floor like the countless others he'd defeated on the way up. The tower's system partitioned his memories from his consciousness and sent him to the bottom of the tower to reform, and try again. As Gram's body came together, he could see his final memories flashing before his eyes as they were moved beyond his reach.

* * *

><p>In seconds it was over. Gram was just another A.D.A.M. unit. One with a soul, somewhere deep down. With only his personality and his body, free of weapons, Gram approached the red light that would transport him to the next floor up... And he began again, and again, and again... Trapped forever in The Tower Of Purgatory...<p>

* * *

><p>終わり<p> 


End file.
